11 small Indian cities among world’s fastest growing

Economic growth in India is driving an unprecedented shift in population to urban centres. As many as 11 Indian cities figure among the 100 fastest growing cities in the world, with Faridabad featuring at the sixth spot.

These figures form part of the report, The Transition to a Predominantly Urban World and its Underpinnings, released on Monday by the International Institute for Environment and Development, a UK-based policy research non-governmental body.

According to it, even little-known Indian cities are growing at a scorching pace. For instance, Durg-Bhilai in Chhattisgarh, which is home to a massive steel plant, is the seventh fastest growing city in the world.

Expectedly, another NCR city, Ghaziabad, is in the list. But the other cities finding place in the top 100 list could surprise many — Aurangabad, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Dhanbad, Surat, Guwahati, Visakhapatnam and Asansol. Obviously, the economic drivers at work in pushing populations to shift from the countryside to these cities are as diverse as the cities themselves.

In terms of absolute numbers, the expected names crop up in the most populated cities list — the four metros along with Pune, Hyderabad and Bangalore.

India is second only to China on these lists. And, if China and India continue to enjoy economic success, they may have larger urban populations in 2020 than those predicted by the United Nations, the report says.

Agency